His Twisted Heart by Ellie R Hunter

Chapter Seventeen

Luca

Itune out everyone arguing about what to do and pull my phone out of my pocket. Bringing up the thread I have with Tor, I type out a message.

I’m… I’m what? Sorry? Going to charge in and save her? Fuck! I delete the single word and bang the back of my head against the cupboard. It doesn’t help, but it does get the attention of my dad.

“How you doing, son?”

“I’m fine,” I lie.

This is not the time to tell him Tor is pregnant with my baby.

They continue to debate what move to make next, and all I can think of is Victoria. It’s time to admit she means more to me than I’ve let on.

JJ suggests storming the club. Ricky wants to send a couple of brothers in through the back and take down as many Crows as possible, while the others come through the front, guns blazing.

Dad sits there listening to it all, and I can tell he’s not on board.

Banging upstairs halts their arguing, and everyone looks up to the ceiling as if they can see through to the bedrooms.

Mom comes running down the stairs and into the kitchen.

“He’s gone, and so is Harper. They’re not here.”

Sighing, Dad asks, “The baby?”

“She’s asleep in her crib.”

JJ runs upstairs to see that his wife is gone for himself, and all we hear is him roar, “For fuck’s sake, Harps!”

“They’ve gone to the club,” Ricky murmurs, to which Dad snaps, “No shit.”

JJ’s boots stomp down the stairs, and as soon as he steps into the kitchen, he growls, “What are we waiting for? Let’s go. If he gets his dirty hands on Harper, who knows what he’ll do to her this time.”

Mom stands there, frozen. Leo has stepped over the line this time, and Mom’s going to kick his ass for sure when she gets her hands on him, as well as Dad.

“Babe, go sit with the kid. Be there for her if these fuckers wake her up.”

Mom disappears up the stairs, and dad turns on JJ. “We’ve been sitting here for over an hour while we thought they were upstairs. They could already be there. We’ll wait for sunrise, when they’ve been up all night riding. Their adrenaline rush will start to wear down, then we’ll attack.”

Ricky shakes his head, muttering, “Oh, so now that your kids are in there, we can storm the place?”

“The fuck you say to me?” Dad snaps. “We’re storming it now because my asshole kids have moved the die, so to speak. Their presence in Ellis’s orbit will be enough for him to lose his damned mind as it is. Us showing up can’t make it any worse.”

To be fair to Ricky, it sure seems like Dad’s changed his mind because of his kids, but I remain quiet on the subject.

“We have seven hours before sunrise. Go collect all the guns you can find, and make it back here before the sun comes up.”

Something’s up with JJ. Instead of following orders, he just stands there, shaking his head.

“Do you have something to say, JJ?” Dad questions.

“Anything could happen before sunrise. He could kill them both.”

A coldness washes over my dad, and he steps closer to JJ, getting in his face.

“I’m fully fucking aware of that. They could already be dead. Go with your dad, and bring back every weapon you can find.”

I’m the only one who doesn’t leave, and once the kitchen is empty, Dad picks up a glass and throws it at the wall, sending shards of glass everywhere.

“So, I’ll clear that up before Mom comes back down.”

I go to search the cupboards for a brush and dustpan when Dad spins around, just realising I’m still here.

“Does this mean I’m going with you? And do I get a gun?”

“You think this is a game?”

I’m deadly serious, and he sees it.

“You’re coming. But if I give you a gun, your mom will put a bullet between my eyes. You’ll stay on the out until told otherwise.”

“That’s bullshit, Dad. I want to help.”

“Why?”

Not wanting him to read what’s written on my face, I look down at the floor. “The people in there are our family.” I shrug. “They’d fight for me.”

“I slapped that prospect patch on you so you can start learning about the club from within, not from being my son. This is where you listen to what I say and follow it without question, without hesitation, and without nothing less than everything you have. You understand?”

I don’t need to hear this, but I nod and bite down on my tongue, because he doesn’t need me giving him grief right now.

Dad heads upstairs, and I stay back to clean up the broken glass. Dumping it into the trash, I put the pan and brush away, listening to the silence lingering through the first floor. If anything happens to Victoria… I can’t bring myself to think along those lines. Taking the stairs two at a time, Dad’s voice has me slowing my steps.

“Do I dare ask if Luca is going with you?” I hear Mom ask as I creep down the hall. “He’s a prospect, and any other prospect would go too.”

I cling to the wall, fearing I’ll make a noise.

“I know,” Dad states, “but he’s been a prospect for a hot minute. If you want, he can stay. He’s not even eighteen yet.”

“I would rather him be anywhere than there, but he’s wearing the patch. I feel sick at the thought of him jumping into the fight, but I feel the same for you, for Leo—for everyone.”

When they go silent, I step into the doorway.

“It’s not up for debate. I’m going with you, Dad.”

They both look at me, and Dad asks, “Why?”

“He’s got a girl in there,” Mom murmurs, and I don’t deny it.

She’d be even more upset if she knew the girl was pregnant with her grandchild.

Dad rises to his feet and points his finger at me.

“You do as I say, when I say. And if you put one foot out of line over pussy, son or not, I’ll make you regret it. You hear me?”

“Loud and fucking clear.”

Leo’s an asshole. He couldn’t just wait a few hours. Of course I’m worried about him being close to Ellis after shooting his brother dead, but he didn’t go because it was the right thing for him to do. He went because of India. I have Victoria in there, pregnant with my kid, but you don’t see me rushing in like a fool. Dad’s been the president all these years for a reason.

I drive the van, following behind my dad and Sparky, with JJ and Ricky taking up the rear. The closer we get to the club, the more impending doom fills me. Who knows what we’re walking into? All I can picture is Victoria dead on the floor.

Ellis hasn’t called in hours. For all we know, they could all be dead, and Leo and Harper are long gone.

Dad slows, and I push my foot down on the brake. From what I can see, the gates are open. Rolling down my window, I listen for something, anything, but it’s eerily quiet. Too quiet.

Holding up his hand, Dad signals for us to follow him in. He said I had to wait on the out while they entered first, but now that we’re here, he won’t notice what I get up to.

I climb out of the van while they dismount their bikes. Slade is first on his feet and running into the bar. His roar of pain rocks through me, and I follow Dad into the bar where Slade’s cries fill the air.

JJ’s running toward my brother as I step inside, and he grips Leo’s cut, bellowing, “Where is she?”

Destruction is everywhere I look, and when my eyes land on Victoria, I find she’s in one piece, sitting next to her mom.

Moving around a broken chair, I stare at my brother. Leo doesn’t say a word. I don’t think he can. While JJ impatiently waits for his answer, I take in the state of my brother, covered in blood.

“I know you, and I know her. I know neither of you would’ve needed much persuading to go behind my fucking back. Next time India wants to put herself in danger, I’ll take her with me to meet the fucking devil.”

“She’s already been there,” Leo struggles to say.

I look down at Slade and Kristen hunched over on the floor, sobbing, and my chest tightens when I see them holding India.

A dead India.

India with a fucking hole in her head.

It’s India’s blood Leo’s covered in.

Fuck.

It registers with JJ that she’s dead, and he lets go of my brother, stumbling away from the scene.

“Where the fuck is Harper?”

“She’s gone,” Zach calls out, coming down the stairs.

Shit. He looks like he’s taken several beatings. His left cheek has been slashed open, his right eye is half swollen shut, and blood is crusted down his chin.

“Then we need to fucking find her, now!”

I tune JJ out and look at my dad, who’s staring down at India in her parents’ arms. I then look to my brother, who can’t seem to take his eyes off his dead fiancée’s lifeless body.

Mason’s talking somewhere, but I don’t bother listening. The women start to pour into the bar, and their cries grate on me. Slade, noticing the crowd forming around them, stands with India in his arms, Kristen staying as close as she can. Her eyes lock with Leo’s, and she spits out, “This is your fault. You did this!”

She flies toward my brother and slaps him across the face, but I doubt he’s feeling a damn thing.

She continues to slap him until Zachery pulls her away.

“I will never forgive you for this. She should be away at college, and now…”

Moving quickly, I stand in front of Leo, attempting to block him from the grief Kristen is throwing at him, but he’s not seeing me. His eyes are empty. There’s nothing going on in there.

Wrapping my hand around his arm, I get in his face. “You need to get out of here.”

He’s not helping the McCarthy’s, and they’re not helping him. First of all, he needs to clean India’s blood off of him. “Brother, please.”

“I wish he had shot you. It was you he was here for, not my sweet daughter,” Kristen sobs.

Leo grips my hoodie in his fists, but I don’t think he knows it’s me he’s latching on to.

“I wish that too!” he roars. There’s not one corner of the club his pain doesn’t reach.

Leo slumps against me and chokes out, “I wish that too.”

Kirsten may be India’s mom, but Leo loved her more than anything in this world, and I won’t have her trampling on his pain as if he doesn’t deserve to grieve.

“Okay, enough!” I yell, and she shuts the hell up.

I walk Leo up to his room and I close the door behind us. He goes to leave and bumps straight into me.

“I need to find Ellis.”

“No, you need to change and go be with India.”

I expect him to fight me, but he shuts down. “Leo, you need to shower. You’re covered in her blood.”

“I don’t think I can move,” he admits quietly.

I don’t claim to understand his pain, or even try to imagine how he’s feeling right now, but I understand he needs me.

I leave him standing in the middle of the room and turn on the shower in his bathroom. When I’m satisfied with the temperature, I make my way back to him.

If there’s one thing I thought I’d never have to do, it would be to undress my brother.

I slip his cut over his shoulders and toss it onto the bed. Pulling his hoodie up and over his head, I toss it aside, unbuckle his jeans, and pull them down his legs.

“You’re gonna have to help me out here, brother. The shower’s ready for you. Get in, and I’ll get you some fresh clothes.”

He steps out of his jeans and silently walks into the bathroom.

Picking up his bloodied clothes, I’m looking around for a bag to put them in when Dad walks in, closes the door, and takes a seat at the edge of the bed.

Leo’s cries ripple through us both. Needing to get away, I dump his clothes into a bag I find and head out into the hall, where I slide down the wall and land on my ass, gripping my ankles so hard, they’ll be sure to leave bruises.

I may not understand his pain, but I know I don’t like hearing him break into a million pieces. This shit is cutting deep.

“Luca?”

Hearing my mom’s voice, I raise my head to see her coming down the hallway.

Jumping to my feet, I rush over and wrap my arms around her. She stiffens in surprise, but she gets over it quickly and hugs me back.

“What’s wrong, sweetheart?”

Leaning away, I look at her incredulously. “You haven’t heard?”

How is that possible?

I open Leo’s door. She first sees Dad sitting on the bed, and then she hears Leo’s cries.

She darts past me and rushes for the bathroom until Dad grabs her arm to stop her.

“Talk to me, Cas,” she urges.

“Ellis. He killed India.”

When another howl of pain pierces the air, Mom slams open the bathroom door and gasps, no doubt seeing Leo curled up in the shower.

Bloody carnage is still coming for the club, and I vow to stand at my brother’s side until he finds his vengeance. Whatever he needs, I’m here for him. I’ve got his back.